Abia indigenes stranded, Jos residents trek over high fares

INDIGENES of Abia State, who came home for the Yuletide are finding it difficult to return to their places of abode due to high transport fares caused by the removal of subsidy on petrol by the Federal Government.

The worse hit are those, who came from the North and Lagos-bound passengers, as transporters charged between N7,500 and N8,500 for the trips.

Operators of luxury buses, who use diesel and are not affected by subsidy removal, still adjusted their fares slightly from N6,000 to N6,500.

Intra Abia motorists also increased fares from N350 to N600 while fares for Umuahia to Enugu-Onitsha went up to N1,500 from N500.

Also, residents of Plateau State have resorted to trekking distances within the Jos metropolis where they hitherto took the commercial motorcycles before the removal of the fuel subsidy.

Some motorcyclists told The Guardian that most residents now preferred to trek to places where they normally use motorcycles thereby rendering them almost redundant.

According to them, there is no way that they can reduce their fares, which are in line with the new fuel price in the name of patronage.

Most of the commuters were seen yesterday walking to their places of business or offices while the motor-cycle operators were idle.

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By Gordi Udeajah (Umuahia) and Isa Abdulsalami (Jos)